Cavalcade
by luluvee
Summary: Love blooms under fireworks and twinkle lights, crystals strung on satin, and boughs of fragrant pine. Fluffy, Christmassy drabble fic. E/B AH
1. Chapter 1

Hi! So this is my new little drabble. Dani wanted something Christmassy and then Pelv said, "Why don't you write about how we met?" So here it is - some **semi**autobiographical Christmassyness. The fic is complete so there is no major waits between updates. Hope you guys like it. -lulu  
><strong>PS - all usual disclaimers (I own nothing, SMeyer owns all) apply<strong>

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><p><strong><span>Cavalcade<span>** [kav-_uh_l-**keyd**, **kav**-_uh_l-keyd]  
>1. a procession of persons riding on horses, in horsedrawn carriages, in cars, etc.<br>2. any procession.  
><strong>3. any noteworthy series, as of events or activities. <strong>

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><p><strong>1<strong>

"Just come out with us," Tanya pleads. She dangles the strappy death traps from her fingers like it would help convince me. "I promise, you won't be embarrassed. My friend Edward is the teacher, he's absolutely great."

"_Those_," I wave a finger at the sorry excuse she calls footwear, "aren't exactly helping your cause, Seesee. I'm liable to trip just _thinking_ about wearing them."

"Lala, don't be stupid.. They'll look great on you. Just come. Please?"

I sigh; when have I ever in my life denied her? Instead of wasting my energy with a fight, I just scowl and stomp off to take a shower.


	2. Chapter 2

**2**

"Wow, Lala, you look in-fucking-credible." A wolf whistle follows the compliment and I can't help the pout that forms on my face: I may look decent but I feel like a fish out of water in the getup Tansie had thrown at me after exiting my bathroom.

"Shut up, Emmett."

"What about me, Em?"

I roll my eyes and stomp carefully down the last two steps so as to allow Tanya her grand, dramatic entrance. I watch as my twin brother fusses over her before sweeping her into a gravity defying dip-and-kiss.

"Wow, Bella." I turned and see Emmett's best friend Tyler emerging from the kitchen with an open can of Dr. Pepper in his fist. "You look… Stunning. Like, you know, a real girl."

Wow, what a charmer.

"Thanks, Tyler," I snap. "Nice of you to notice. Now can we get this show on the road? I'd like to humiliate myself early so that way we're less likely to remember it by the end of the night."

"Geeze, Bell, way to be enthusiastic."

"Didn't I already tell you to shut up, Emmett?"


	3. Chapter 3

**3**

"Everyone's meeting us over at the Coral Lounge," Tanya relays as we climb into Tyler's Jeep Rubicon. I can't help but groan.

"Who else will be around to witness my evening of triumph?" I ask, the sarcasm dripping like a horny housewife with fanfiction.

"Calm down, Hurricane Lala," she teases. "Just Ange and Ben, Jess and Lee, and Sam and Jazz."

As I mull over Tansie's guest list, it hits me that the whole list is comprised of couples, save for Tyler and me. Another groan escapes me.

"I hate you, Seesee."


	4. Chapter 4

**4**

I'm out of the car and stumbling to the curb before it has even rolled to a complete stop. I had to get out of that car before I killed somebody in it with the stiletto heel of my shoes.

"Jesus, Bella!" Samantha exclaims, catching me before I can fully faceplant on the concrete. "Please, no suicide tonight!"

"It'd be considered _social _suicide if I let you people convince me to get my ass on the dance floor," I mumble.

"Oh, shut up," she laughs, hauling me through the glass fronted doors that stand open under a neon lit sign that reads 'Coral Lounge.' "Tonight is going to be fun, I promise."

"Your definition of fun greatly differs from mine."

"Jilling off to Jane Austen is fun for nobody," she shoots back.

I may or may not step on her toe.


	5. Chapter 5

**5**

"Hey, we're here for the private dinner and dance lesson with Edward," Tanya tells the hostess. The two engage in some sort of blondes-only-stare off before the hostess backs down and feebly leads us past the main dining room to a set of French doors.

Before the lesser blonde can open the doors to allow us entrance, the frosted glass panels swing open. Standing behind them is a Greek god.

I didn't know Greek gods wore dress slacks.


	6. Chapter 6

**6**

"Hey, Tanya!" the Greek god greets my best friend, opening his arms to her for a hug.

"Edward!" Tansie steps forward for a quick embrace and a peck to his cheek. "Thank you again so much for this."

He shrugs. "It was no big. I owe you for all your help with my grandma. This is the least I can do."

He steps to the side and ushers us into the room. But, such as my luck has always been, I trip over _nothing_ as I passed him.

Humiliation: 1, Bella Swan: 0.


	7. Chapter 7

**7**

The feeling of weightlessness when you fall happens so quickly but, in the moment of living it, seems to pass so slowly. As was the case now. Imagine my shock, though, when the weightlessness is cut to an abrupt stop and I hover in midair with a delicious warm weight braced against my ribs.

"I see I've got my work cut out for me tonight, don't I," a low, deep voice rasps in my ear before slowly pulling me upright.

I turn to the voice and am met with two of the darkest emerald green eyes God ever thought to create.

I'm not surprised to experience that feeling of weightless falling again so soon.


	8. Chapter 8

**8**

Dinner, though probably wonderful, is not my main focus. Edward is: the way he strides to and fro across the polished hardwood as everyone else eats (I can't eat even if I want to; humiliation has a tendency to do that to you) is mesmerizing. His gait is strong and purposeful, each step causing those black slacks to conform to the muscles of his thighs in such an evil, enticing way.

"So, are we all through with dinner?" he asks us, cracking his knuckles as the busboys busy themselves with clearing the dinner service.

A chorus of assent follows Edward's question and he instructs everyone to rise and join him on the dance floor.


	9. Chapter 9

**9**

I'm not surprised to find myself alone, still in my seat.

"Lala," Tanya groans. "You promised you wouldn't be difficult."

"I promised no such thing." But I let her tug me up anyway.

I expected to be met by Tyler when I reached the dance floor, but his approach is cut off by beauty-incarnate.

"I have a feeling you need me more than anyone else here," Edward says smoothly. His tone leads me to believe that he's talking way beyond the dance floor.


	10. Chapter 10

**10**

We're all lined up and I've struggled through the basic steps of the Cha Cha. I've already suffered through some of the basics of dancing and I can see Edward getting frustrated with me.

_ Don't worry, buddy_, I think. _I'm just as frustrated as you are_.

"Think fun and flirty, passion veiled with the mystery of meeting someone for the first time," he says as he passes me from behind.

I stare at my feet and beg them to cooperate, even just for five minutes.

A pair of warm hands suddenly slip just under my waist and I feel like melting. "Your hips. Loosen your hips."


	11. Chapter 11

**11**

I'm dancing.

I can't fucking believe it.

I'm actually dancing.

It's not stumbled and stunted and I'm not stepping on anyone's toes. The room whirls around me, fluid and graceful and I feel, for what has to be the first time in my life, really and truly _beautiful_.

I meet laughing emerald green eyes and I know just who to thank for this.


	12. Chapter 12

**12**

"See?" he says, leading us around my friends (and a scowling Tyler).

"What?" I make the mistake of looking around as we whirl and I loose my footing for a quick second. But Edward, Greek God of Dance, rights me almost instantly.

"You _can_ dance." The triumph and pride in his voice are unmistakeable. His eyes turn dark and a smirk turns up one corner of his lips. "You just needed the right partner is all."


	13. Chapter 13

**13**

"Oh, hell, Lala!" Tansie squeals after she has stolen me from all the dancing and has dragged all us females to the bathroom. "Look at you!"

I blush but pretend not to know what she's talking about.

"That man is _so_ into you," Angela agrees. She turns to Tanya. "What's his story?"

"I don't know much," SeeSee begins, "I only met him at the hospsice where he had to send his grandmother. Last year, when they first brought her in, he used to come visit once every couple of months with this prissy little redhead that would sit and pout the whole time she was in the building."

The make-believe images in my head of Edward's stuck-up girlfriend swirl like the dance floor from earlier and I can't help the disappointment I feel in my chest.


	14. Chapter 14

**14**

"But she stopped coming about six or seven months ago and then Edward started visiting more frequently," SeeSee continues and my hopes rise once again. "He would stay and talk to us more and stuff. He's a pretty great guy."

"God, Bella, you're so lucky you're single!" Jessica squeals. "If me and Lee break up—"

"Lee and I," I correct automatically. She just gives me the finger. "And besides, who say he's even into me? He could be doing it for the tips and referrals or whatever."

The three of them look at me like I've just sprouted a nipple on my forehead.


	15. Chapter 15

**15**

When we exit the bathroom, we meet the guys and Edward at the entrance to the main hall.

"Ready to strut your stuff, ladies?" Edward asks as he takes my hand and brushes his lips lightly across my knuckles. I swoon a little on the inside and I have to catch myself as my knees buckle the slightest bit.

A fast pace song blares through the speaks and I realize I am about to dance in front of a room full of strangers, in four in heels, in clothes tighter and sluttier and more revealingly cut that I have ever imagined myself in.

Suffice to sat the nerves have come back in full force.


	16. Chapter 16

**16**

"You'll be fine, Bella," Edward whispers in my ear as he leads me past all the empty tables to the large, crowded dance floor. "I've got you."

I want to believe him but the almost tangible pulse of sex-with-clothes-on that runs through the room is too intimidating.

"Come on."


	17. Chapter 17

**17**

Edward pushes us through the crowd and an empty space opens up for us right smack dab in the middle of the floor. People are staring, watching mine and Edward's every move. A few even whoop out his name, bringing even more attention to us.

"C'mon," he says in my ear. He pulls back and I catch a teasing gleam in his eye before he spins me around twice. "Let's cha cha."


	18. Chapter 18

**18**

Once I let go and ignore the feeling of hundreds of eyes watching me, I manage dance pretty well. Edward has me spinning in circles, dipping me so low that the ends of my curled hair tickle the floor, stepping in time with the quick rhythms that the live band is providing, and pulling me so close that I can smell the heady intoxicating scent of _him_. We dance and dance and I'm pretty sure that one of my toes is bleeding and I have blisters the size of tangerines on my feet but Edward feels too good to let go.

The band slows down to a more sensual, rhythmic number and Edward pulls me in tight, his body aligning with mine. We're so close that water couldn't even drip between us if it were raining.

"Now this," Edward whispers in my ear, "_this_ is the dance I've been waiting for all night."


	19. Chapter 19

**19**

"Wh-wha-what?" I stutter as he rocks us back and forth.

Suddenly he dips me low and my eyes meet the disco ball hanging from the ceiling. This guy must have incredible upper body strength because he holds me there while he runs the tip of his nose from my collar up my neck.

Slowly, with his nose buried just under my ear and his breath ticking my sweat dampened skin, he brings me upright.

"You don't even know the effect you have, do you, Bella?" he whispers instead of answering me, our hips bumping as he leads.


	20. Chapter 20

**20**

_I __**affect **__him_?

_I_ am not the girl that affects anyone. Infects, maybe; _affects_, never.

"What are you talking about?" I stutter out, backing away from him. I'll admit, I'm bewildered. He has nothing to gain by being attracted to me, so I can't think of any sort of angle.

"Bella, wait," he pleads, holding his hands out as he tries to catch me.

But it's too late. I'm out the door as fast as these cursed heels can get me.


	21. Chapter 21

**21**

"Lala, you're insane."

"You telling me again for the billionth time in two minutes is not going to change anything, SeeSee."

"He really liked you!" she exclaims, huffing as she drops beside me on to my bed.

"_Liked_ being the operative word here," I mutter darkly. I cast a baleful glance to the corner of my bedroom where the stupid outfit and the stupid shoes landed when I peeled them off of me on Saturday night when I got home.

"You're such a shit." Tanya jumps off my bed and heads towards the door. "And I'm _not_ paying you back for that cab you took home. That one is all on you."


	22. Chapter 22

**22**

"So Edward came by the hospice today."

I don't look up but I can't help it when my fork drops out of my grasp. I compose myself as quick as I can and ignore the smirk I can feel coming off Tansie.

"What, does he have another sick relative or something you didn't tell me about?"

"If you're not interested then why do you care?" she questions too casually.

"I'm not." I shrug. "You brought it up in the first place."


	23. Chapter 23

**23**

"Hold on, Ange," I say into the mic on my headphones. "I've got another call coming in."

Who the hell…? Unknown name, 647-741-5254. This better not be a telemarketer.

"S'okay, take it," she says. "Call me later."

"Sure thing. Bye." I wait for her goodbye before switching lines. "Hello?"

A rough cough then a deep, smooth, "Hi. Bella?"


	24. Chapter 24

**24**

I'd know this voice anywhere. This is the voice that haunts my sleep. This is the voice of sweetest torment. It's a voice so smooth that it _sounds_ like emeralds.

"Oh, fuck," he curses when I don't answer. "Fuck, Tanya gave me the wrong number, didn't she? Shit. Look, uh, sorry, Miss."

"W-wa-wait!" I yell, hoping he hasn't hung up yet.

"Bella?" he asks again.

"Ye-yeah. H-hi." Fuck, I'm an idiot.

"Oh. Hi. It's Edward. Edward Cullen. From the Coral Lounge?"

Yeah, right, like I'd forget.


	25. Chapter 25

**25**

"Hi," I repeat like the idiot I am.

"Hey. You _do_ remember me, right? I was the dance instructor?"

"Um, yeah." There is a plethora of snarky and sarcastic things to say running through my head but my mouth won't voice any of them. Stupid mouth.

"Oh. Well, I just wanted to call and say sorry."

_Sorry_? Sorry for what? For me acting like an idiot? For me reading _way_ too much into our interactions from that night? For me—

"I mean, you ran out of the Lounge like a bat out of hell and I guess I crossed a line somewhere. I sincerely didn't mean to and I'd like to apologize for overstepping my boundaries."


	26. Chapter 26

**26**

"Edward, I'm the one who should be sorry," I blurt out. "And I am. Sorry, that is. I have a lot to be sorry for. From that night, not in general. Well, in general, too, but you really don't need to know about that. God, I really, _really_ am sorry. It's just—"

"Bella!" He laughs and it's a deep, throaty laugh. The sound makes my skin tingle and my panties wet. Jesus, I'm delusional.

"Bella," he says again. "Look, I guess we both sort of fucked up that night."

I nod my head even though he can't see me.

"Why don't we start over? Hi, I'm Edward Cullen. And you are?"

I feel like an idiot doing this but I play along anyway. "Hello. I'm Bella Swan. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Edward."

The awkward silence that ensues makes me feel even more ridiculous before Edward booms out in his sultry laugh again.

"That would've worked out a lot better had we not been on the phone, huh," he comments. "So, Bella, I'd like to ask you a question but I'm afraid you'll hang up on me."


	27. Chapter 27

**27**

"What the _fuck_ was I thinking?" I shriek, tossing clothes all over the room in a vain attempt to find something suitable to wear.

"It's not what you were thinking," Seesee says, tossing a pair of panties that landed on her head to the side, "it's that you _finally_ were thinking at all."

"Not helping." I pause in my search to glare at her. "You need to dress me, woman! He's going to expect the Bella from that night! _I_ am not _that_ Bella!"

"Are you insane?"

"No, I am not. But you dressed me up in fancy, sexy clothes and heels. That's not who I am. He's asking out _that_ girl. What he'll get is plain, frumpy, boring Bella. And nobody wants her."

"STOP!"

I halt and turn, only to be met with furious ice blue eyes.


	28. Chapter 28

**28**

"You _are_ sexy. You _are_ fun. You are _amazing_ and I don't know why you can't see it!" Tanya is shaking me by my shoulders, trying to physically impart her message. But all she's really doing is giving me whiplash. "He will like you. More than like you. He'll fall head over heels in love with you if you would only just let go of your damn insecurities!"

"And if he doesn't?" I want to sound defiant, but it just comes out meek.

"Then he's a fucking idiot and I will shred my favourite La Perla bra for being wrong."

I gasp. "Not the red La Perla Romantica balconette bra!"

"The red La Perla Romantica balconette bra," she says with a sage nod.


	29. Chapter 29

**29**

I'm fidgeting nervously as I step out of the subway train.

_Turn back now_, the Cynical Voice of Reason in my head hisses. _This is an unbelievably bad idea!_

I almost turn back around and hop back on to the train but I stop myself, remembering how much Tanya begged me to give this… _date_… a chance.

Taking a deep breath and squaring my shoulders, I march through the turnstile and up the steps, breathing in the smoggy air with a sense of satisfaction. _I've made it this far. Just a little further_.

Looking around, I orient myself then head west to the Starbucks I agreed to meet Edward at. The butterflies in my stomach morph into raging Tyrannosaurus rexes and the closer I get to the coffee shop the more I feel the urge, no, _need_ to throw up.


	30. Chapter 30

**30**

I steel myself at the door, refusing to look through the green-tinted glass for the familiar mop of riotous hair I've been dreaming about for the past two weeks.

_Inhale, exhale. C'mon, Bella, you can do this_, I tell myself.

_No, you can't,_ Cynical Voice of Reason begs to differ. _You don't know _how_ to date. You know how to be awkward. That's not cute or charming. It's just __**awkward**_**.**

"Bella?"


	31. Chapter 31

**31**

I yelp and turn, crashing into a hard body covered in a thick wool pea coat.

"Holy shit, Bella! Are you okay?"

Arms surround me and I feel the tingling sensation that I did that night at the Coral Lounge when I was dancing with Edward. I make the mistake of looking up into the greenest emerald green eyes I've ever encountered and I can't help but swoon.


	32. Chapter 32

**32**

"What's your poison?" Edward asks me, breaking our awkward silence as we stand side by side in line. He waves a hand at the counter before us and I can't help but notice just how long his fingers are.

"Uh… Hot chocolate is fine," I reply. I don't really know what exactly, seeing as I don't find $7.00 coffee very practical.

"You sure?" he asks, probably picking up on my slightly perplexed tone as I look over the menu behind the baristas.

I just nod and shuffle forward as the line moves.


	33. Chapter 33

**33**

Awkward doesn't even begin to cover it.

I have a peppermint white hot chocolate in front of me and Edward is crumbling a poor scone to bits. The steady stream of customers for the coffee shop and the adjoining bank seem to stare at us in pity, as if they are picking up on our reeking desperation.

"STOP KILLING IT!" I finally shout. More than several sets of eyes stop in their tracks to stare some more at me. But the only pair I'm really concerned about at the moment are slowly meeting mine, his fingers covered in dead scone crumbs.


	34. Chapter 34

This chapter is for laura_1025. She knows why ;)

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><p><strong>34<strong>

He quirks a bushy eyebrow at me and I almost forget that there's a world around me – embarrassments included – because those deep emerald green eyes are just so fucking disarming.

"It didn't do anything to you," I reason, lifting my cardboard cup and motioning towards the undeserving baked good in pieces on the table top across from me. I take a sip and arch an eyebrow right back.

Now, at this point, I expect him to call me insane and leave in a huff. If he were normal, he would. I'm secure in my insanity so it would only mean a slight blow to my pride if he did.

But both eyebrows rise in surprise. I'm waiting for the scrape of chair against marble tile to signal that I have scared yet another one off but it doesn't come. Instead I hear,

"_Dies irae, dies illa. Kyrie eleison. Yitgadal v'yitkadash_."

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><p><strong>Game time! Whoever can spot the (not so invisible) quote and tell me where it's referenced from and who said it gets a special Christmas card from me!<strong> **If you can go further in your references, you may even get Christmas fudge! -lulu**


	35. Chapter 35

**35**

My eyes go wide and I am _so_ close to spitting out my mouthful in his face.

It seems I have met my match in the insanity department.

"I'm sorry," I say instead, coughing down the scalding hot beverage. "I don't speak in tongues."

We stare at each other for a moment before Edward barks out a loud and glorious laugh.


	36. Chapter 36

**36**

"Seesee and Lala?" Edward laughs, his hand running through his messy mane of copper-blonde hair. Now that the ice has been broken, we've been sitting at our table for two hours, talking about anything and everything. "You call each other after Teletubbies?"

"Shut up," I snort, hurling a fingerful of dead scone remains at him. "We were little; she couldn't say 'Bella' and I couldn't pronounce 'Tansie,' which is what everybody in our families has been calling her since, well, forever."

He chuckles as he picks pastry bits off of his shirt before flicking them back at me.

"Hey, now, Lala, show some respect for the dead."


	37. Chapter 37

**37**

A gaggle of teenage girls bustles into the Starbucks, startling us out of which is better, chocolate or strawberry milk.

"Ooooo, I just hope the guys don't get bumped back," one of them gushes, blowing a breath into her mitten-clad hands. "I want a good spot right by the stage. I want to be able to touch Jasper Whitlock."

"I know, right?" another replied. "He's so hot. I totally, like, wrote him a letter. When he gets near, I'm gonna throw it up on stage."

They all giggle and Edward and I glance at each other.

"Oh, to be young and stupid again," I whisper-giggle to him and he snorts. "Jasper Whitlock… Isn't he that singer guy?"


	38. Chapter 38

**38**

Edward shrugs, rolling his neck a little bit, too. "I dunno. I listen to _good_ music."

I can't help but chortle.

"What's going on out there?"

I follow Edward's long, elegant finger as it points out the glass-window wall to across the street where massive crowds are gathering at the City Hall Square.


	39. Chapter 39

**39**

"What do you think's going on?" I ask, pushing aside my hot chocolate so I can see further.

"It's the Calvalcade of Lights!" one of the hipster teens gushes, looking at me like I'm stupid, insane, or possibly both. "It's, like, the official start Fork's Christmas season!"

"Cal-val-cade?" I snicker as Edward looks puzzled.

"Yeah!" Hipsterette insists, shoving a shiny pamphlet on our table before turning on her Ugg-clad heel to pick up her order.

I can't help but burst out laughing when my suspicions are confirmed. Edward just looks lost which causes me to laugh even harder. I push the flyer towards him and, after a moment, he bursts out in laughter, too.

"Oh! The _Ca_-val-cade of Lights!"

"Eugh," Hipsterette & Co. mutter in unison. "That's what I said!"


	40. Chapter 40

**40**

The Hipsterettes are gone and Edward and I are finally breathing at a relatively normal rate. He's flipping back and forth throught the three pages of the pamphlet sitting beside the remains of Pastry McSconester.

"Do you…"

I peer up at him from under my lashes as I think fast. Is he going to ask me out again? What do I say? I've had a great time but maybe I just got lucky…

"Do you want to watch this _Calvalcade_ of Lights with me?"

Oh.

"They've got fireworks and the lighting of the big tree in City Hall Square and I guess some musical acts and shit…"


	41. Chapter 41

**41**

I swallow hard as my mind races. _He __**wants**__ to spend __**more**__ time with me?_

As far as first dates go, this has been the best I've ever experienced. Do I want it to end? No. But do I want him to get sick and tired of me so quickly? It's a major possibility if we spend even more time together today.

Even I know I'm only good in small doses.

I look to him and there is the faintest strokes of pink dusting his cheekbones. That right there, for some reason, makes up my mind.

"I'd love to."


	42. Chapter 42

**42**

I find Edward sitting at our table with freshly made drinks after I make a quick escape to the bathroom. I quirk an eyebrow at him.

"Baby, it's cold outside," he teases, holding up my coat so he can help me shrug it on.

I melt when he calls me 'baby.'


	43. Chapter 43

**43**

We battle through throngs of people – carollers, families with children, couples shielding each other from the cold – until we find a suitable spot off to the side, right close to the baubled and bedecked but yet unlit fifty-foot Christmas tree. It's not too crowded and people aren't constantly walking past us so we settle against the low concrete retaining wall and wait for the show to begin.

"What's your favourite Christmas carol?" I ask. It's not entirely out of the blue – there's a group of about ten kids singing off-color versions of popular carols just a little ways away from us.

"'O Holy Night,'" he says without hesitation. "I grew up Catholic, so Christmas is always a huge deal in my family. And my mom sings and directs our church choir. That's the only song she'll take the solo in every year, ever since I can remember."

The way his eyes light up as he explains his choice to me is wondrous. Even if we don't get to see fireworks tonight, the light show in his emerald green eyes is enough for me.


	44. Chapter 44

**44**

"What's yours?"

It takes me a minute to process what exactly he's asking me because I'm so caught up in watching the happiness in his face.

"'Baby, It's Cold Outside,'" I reply after a thought. I can feel the heat in my cheeks as I remember his earlier teasing. "But there are only one version I'll listen to."

"Which is…?"

"Sammy Davis, Jr. and Carmer McRae. They're just so playful, you can't not love that version." I shrug.

"I bet we could sing a better version," Edward says, bumping my shoulder with his.

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><p><strong>What's your favorite Christmas carol? Review and share :) -lulu<strong>


	45. Chapter 45

**45**

"I doubt it," I laugh. "I can't sing to save my life."

"I don't believe it," he taunts, swinging his free arm around my waist. I internally curse my heavy winter coat. "You also claimed that you couldn't dance, if I remember correctly. I don't think I can trust you when it comes to yourself."

I stick my tongue out at him and try to wriggle away from his hold. Instead, he just pulls me closer and hums the opening bars of the song.

"C'mon," he cajoles, his humming breaking down my defences as they vibrate against the skin behind my ear.

I take a shaky breath. "_I really can't stay…_"


	46. Chapter 46

**46**

"_There's bound to be talk tomorrow._" I don't know when it happened but a guitar player and a set of steel drums have joined our little duet. I feel the blazing in my cheeks roar as Edward chuckles, the mirth in his eyes almost palpable.

"_Making my lifelong sorrow_." He brings his cup-laden hand to his chest, feigning heartbreak.

"_At least there will be plenty implied_." I pout at him.

He rolls his eyes. "_If you caught pneumonia and died_."

"_I really can't stay_..." I smile at him as he tips my chin upwards.

"_Get over that hold out_," and he winks.

"_Baby, it's cold outside_," we sing together. The steel drums flourish and the small crowd that has gathered around us claps their approval.


	47. Chapter 47

**47**

"See?" Edward laughs as I bury my face into the lapels of his coat out of sheer embarrassment. "I can't trust you, little liar."

"I can't believe you just made me do that," I moan into the scratchy wool. People are still clapping and there are a few calls for encores that make my stomach drop.

"I made you do nothing," he insists.

The steel drummer and the guitarist play some holiday-sounding tunes – as holiday sounding as you can get with a full set of Caribbean steel drums, at least – before the drummer, a tall, lanky man with fluffy earmuffs peeking out from under his multicolored dreadlocks, calls out to us.

"Ey, mon frere! Little miss! Another one, yea!"


	48. Chapter 48

**48**

I shake my head no, so hard that I'm surprised my neck is still attached but the music plays and Edward just rubs my shoulder.

I feels so natural, I realize, to be in his arms like this. Although we didn't get off to the world's greatest start, I let myself hope that we might, just maybe, have the possibility of a future together.

"_Feliz navidad_," Edward sings into my ear before pulling back and singing loudly to the gathered crowd. "_Feliz navidad. Feliz navid, prospero ano y felicidad!_"


	49. Chapter 49

**49**

"_I wanna wish you a merry Christmas from the bottom of my heart!_" I sing with a flourish, loving how Edward is holding me with both hands now, his gloved hands resting on jeans over my hips.

I can't help but catch his Christmas spirit. He's absolutely breathtaking as he sings, absolutely enjoying and soaking up the atmosphere of the holiday season around him. The steel drummer launches into another tune, a little slower, and the guitarist picks up on it, strumming gently. I catch the tune fairly quickly and I can't help but start to sing. Edward looks pleasantly surprised.

"_I'm dreaming of a white Christmas…_"


	50. Chapter 50

**50**

The atmosphere is electric as the sun goes down and the multitudes of Christmas lights hung on every possible concrete surface slowly flicker awake. Edward is on a coffee run for us – the _us_ being Liam the Welsh guitarist, Laurent the Haitian steel drummer, Edward, and myself.

"So 'ow long 'ave you et Monsieur Edward been together?" Laurent asks in his unfamiliarly melodic accent – to me it sounds like a cross between French and Jamaican. He's flipping his hair from shoulder to shoulder, giving him the impression of a rainbow aura - about fifteen minutes ago he clicked a remote he had hidden in his pocket and his multicolored dreads lit up, miniature lights woven into the stiff hair.

I blush and thank God that it's gotten dark out so he can't see. "Um, since about three this afternoon," I answer truthfully.

My blush grows from his and Liam's stare and I'm surprised my cheeks aren't lit up like Rudolph's nose. After a beat, Liam barks out a laugh.


	51. Chapter 51

**51**

"I'd have never guessed, lass," Liam tells me.

"Never would have guess what?"

I turn and there's Edward. His hands are full – coffee carrier in one, a pastry box in the other – and his collar is turned up against the cold. I can barely detect a hint of wind-blown pink against his cheeks.

"That you and Mademoiselle Bella 'ad not been together all too long," Laurent supplies. I want to scowl at him but I'm too busy trying to decipher the expressions that cross Edward's face.


	52. Chapter 52

**52**

Surprise is the predominant emotion in his eyes and it's quickly overshadowed by something else. The emerald green turns darker, like there is a warm fire behind them, and the deep dimples on the cheeks below make an appearance.

"We may not have been together all that long," I hear him say, "but I plan on keeping her for a long, long time. If, that is, she'll let me."


	53. Chapter 53

**53**

It's cold, the only warmth coming from Edward's body pressed up close behind me, and it's dark, only spotlights trained on the stage and strategically placed red, white, and green flood lamps around the square. Both Edward and I have glowsticks hanging from our necks and looped around our wrists as we listen to the cringe-worthy hosts on stage.

"Hey! Welcome to Forks' annual Cavalcade of Lights! Let me hear you scream!" Richard Tryor, the local morning newsman, shouts into his microphone. "I can't hear you!"

"That's because nobody is actually screaming," Edward mutters close to my ear, pulling me tighter against his body as we laugh quietly.


	54. Chapter 54

**54**

"… And I'd personally like to thank you all for joining us tonight," Mayor Godfrey says, wrapping up his too long speech about God only knows what. "With that, I'd like to invite you all to join us as we light the Christmas tree."

"I didn't even vote for you, buddy," I grouse as he drones on.

"Neither did I," Edward agrees. All the lights in the square dim. "Oh, _finally_."

I turn my eyes forward – we have a great vantage point of the fifty-five foot tree, we're directly in front of it, about thirty feet away. I can feel the anticipation mount as we wait. Edward's arms, which are wrapped around me, reach forward and he grasps my hands with his.


	55. Chapter 55

**55**

With a loud _click!_ the tree is lit and the two of us, along with about two hundred other citizens of the great city of Forks, are gasping at the sheer beauty in front of us.

The tree is absolutely massive, towering well over everything and dwarfed only by the skyscrapers around it. It is dressed up in thousands of red and gold lights, with decorative balls ranging from the size of tennis balls to the size of disco balls reflecting their grandeur one hundredfold. Four-pointed stars in red trimmed with gold are strategically placed so as to not make the decorations look crowded and I'm pretty sure I spy little golden owls on every other branch.

A loud booming makes me jump and I look up to see five streaking fireworks – two red and three gold, of course – have been launched from a nearby building and are soaring in the inky sky towards the tree, dissolving just as they reach the enormous white and gold star that sits atop the whole display.


	56. Chapter 56

**56**

"Oh, wow," Edward says slowly.

I crane my neck to look at him and the look of awe on his face is nothing short of inspiring. The lights are reflected in his eyes and across his pale skin, his wild hair almost absorbing the reds and golds being thrown off by the tree and making a halo around him.

Suddenly his eyes meet mine and I don't quite know what it is I see but it makes me feel warmer than any parka could. There is a question in those green depths that mine seem to answer and his face looms closer until I have to close my eyes.

I'm not too sure, but I'm pretty sure another round of fireworks go off when his lips finally meet mine.


	57. Chapter 57

**57**

He tastes like cinnamon and apple cider and cranberries from his scone. His lips are soft and wet and this is the most perfect of first kisses in the entire history of first kisses.

The cheering of the crowd around us breaks us apart. They are clamouring at something idiot Richard Tryor said but I'm not paying him or anything else any mind. All I can see is Edward and the absolutely blinding smile he's shining down on to me.


	58. Chapter 58

**58**

"When are they gonna show the fireworks, Mummy?" I hear a little boy whine as we suffer through some local performers butchering Christmas classics.

"I'm with him," Edward says lowly in my ear. "My ass is freezing and my ears are bleeding."

I snort inelegantly and I feel Edward laugh into my fur-lined hood before his grip around me loosens. I turn and watch him peel off the glowstick strung from his neck and one of the thin glow-bands around his wrists then bend down to that same little boy. He says something that I can't hear and I watch him present the glowsticks to the boy and the look of utter excitement on the boy's face makes me melt. He points over his shoulder and they both look to me before the boy nods fervently. I watch the mother gush her thanks before Edward makes his way back to me.

"You're amazing, you know that?" I tell him.

"Just making the world go round," he answers me cryptically before wrapping his arms around me and pressing a kiss to my lips.


	59. Chapter 59

**59**

"And now…" A drumroll begins in the background. "For the moment we've all been waiting for, the piece de resistance of the evening!"

A single firework booms overhead, showering down in a thousand tiny golden sparks. The crowd roars and Edward and I cheer right along with them.

The stage and square lights all dim to black and an orchestra starts up, low at first then picking up tempo. The crack and hiss and booms of the overhead light show begins in time with the music and I stand, enraptured, as the colors fly across the black canvas sky.


	60. Chapter 60

**60**

I've quickly figured out which parts are Edward's favorite because he squeezes me tighter in his embrace as the pops cascade from above.

The music crescendos and I feel his fingers twine tightly with mine. I watch eagerly and I'm rewarded as dozens of colors splash against the sky. Then the music dies and the sky once again grows dark. I flex my fingers against Edward's and realize that I was holding on to him just as tightly as he was holding on to me.


	61. Chapter 61

**61**

"Holy wow," I breathe.

"Hell yea," Edward agrees.

We're still standing in our spot, though I'm now facing him, as people begin to make their way around us. The host is saying some final words and there are cheers and screams from dozens of teenaged girls near the stage but most of the crowd is fighting their way out already.

I open my mouth to say something but the words die on my lips as Edward swoops down to kiss me.


	62. Chapter 62

**62**

It's just as perfect as our first two kisses. But better. There's no hesitation this time, no thinking, just doing.

It feels like we've been doing this forever and I don't mind that at all.

"Wow," is all I say instead. I feel him lean his forehead against mine and the warmth of his breath floats over me.

"Wow indeed," he says. "Wow indeed."


	63. Chapter 63

**63**

"C'mon," Edward tells me, moving away but firmly grasping my hand. "I haven't seen the Swarovski tree yet."

"The huh?"

I love the way his whole face lights up as he tugs me out of the square and towards the Forks Promenade Mall.

"The huge Swarovski tree!" he repeats. "They have this giant tree in the middle of the mall and every year it's decorated with thousands of Swarovski decorations!"

I shrug but follow him. If it's got him this excited, it's probably worth a looksee.


	64. Chapter 64

**64**

"Oh, wow," I say, breathlessly in awe. A twenty-five foot tree stands right in the middle of the mall, seemingly billions of twinkling crystals winking at their audience cheekily as the tree slowly revolves.

"Told you," Edward says smugly, his hand squeezing mine.

This tree is decorated in silvers and blues, individual crystal-shaped ornaments dancing from each bough. The large baubles are matte in color, with sprinklings of crystals dashed across them and even the ribbons tied around the pine needles have little heart-shaped crystals hanging off their ends.

"I've lived in Forks all my life," I remark. "How have I never seen this?"


	65. Chapter 65

**65**

"Hi, excuse me, can you take our picture?"

Instantly I am alert. "Oh, Edward, no!"

He looks at me, eyes wide with fake-hurt and mischief as he hands off a little silver camera to a bystander. His bottom lip juts out in a deliciously adorable pout. "You don't want to take a picture under the tree with me?"

How can anyone say no to that?

I plead with my own eyes but he just pouts even harder and I sigh. This man is dangerous and he isn't even armed.


	66. Chapter 66

**66**

We situate ourselves as near to the tree as we can, at a spot devoid of Christmas shoppers. Edward stands beside me, his left arm draped casually over my shoulder and I try in vain to fix my hair without a mirror.

"You look fine," he tells me patiently before tugging me close to him. I smile pleasantly and wait for the flashbulb to go off.

"Oh, one more," Edward requests as he holds me to him and the little Chinese woman nods fervently.

We stand again and just before the flash goes off I feel Edward's lips along my cheek.


	67. Chapter 67

**67**

"That's my favorite," he declares after we've gotten his camera back. We're looking at the second shot and the look of surprise on my face is pretty hysterical.

"Shut up," I mumble, my blush overpowering the volume of my voice.

"Okay, one more stop and I promise I'll let you go."

My gut twists at his last few words: it's been such a short time but already I never want to be without him.


	68. Chapter 68

**68**

I can't help but be a little afraid as I stand between the glass showcases in the Swarovski store. Everything is so delicate and, knowing my luck, I'd tumble right into the most expensive case of all.

"Bella, come here, tell me what you think."

I slowly walk over to Edward, careful to mind each step. In his hands is a beautiful crystal ornament, a shooting star with a smaller golden crystal star laid over top of it.

"It's beautiful, Edward," I tell him as I tentatively reach out a finger to trace the facets of the cool stone. "Who are you buying it for?"

He just shrugs and walks to another display case.


	69. Chapter 69

**69**

"All right, I'm ready to go."

I turn and see that Edward has large gift bag hanging from his fingers, his other hand outstretched for mine.

"Okay." I feel my stomach drop, knowing that this is the end of our date.


	70. Chapter 70

**70**

"What are you doing on Monday night?" Edward asks me as we stand at my doorstep. The ride home on the subway was uneventful, mostly because the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach wouldn't go away.

"Um, nothing."

"What time do you get off work?"

"Four, four-thirtyish."

"Can I pick you up, maybe at, like, six and we could maybe go to dinner?"

I finally look up at him, and his eyes are full of hope. I nod.

"I'd like that."


	71. Chapter 71

**71**

"I had a really good time today," I tell him, breaking the awkward silence that has taken over. "Really, really good."

"I'm glad," Edward tells me, shuffling closer. "I did, too."

"I can't wait for Monday."

Instead of replying, Edward leans down and kisses me, his lips brushing softly against my own. The pressure builds and I take a risk by parting my lips and sneaking my tongue out against his lips.


	72. Chapter 72

**72**

"How was work?"

Edward and I are on the phone. It's Wednesday, two days after our first attempt at a full-fledged meal. That date, I'm sorry to say, was horrible. Nothing like our Saturday at the _Calvalcade_ of Lights. The restaurant sucked, the waitress hit on him and dropped a glass of Pepsi on my lap, and he somehow locked his keys in his car. Suffice to say, when we were sitting in my living room for a nightcap, we laughed it off and chalked it up to a shitty day.

"It was good," he replies. He only works at the Coral Lounge on weekends; during the week, he's a power suited business analyst for Ernst & Young. "Long. Everyone's gearing up for Christmas. How was your day?"

I settle on my bed and as we talk I let myself imagine us having these kinds of conversations face to face as we get ready for bed.


	73. Chapter 73

**73**

It's two weeks after when Edward has me panicking like it's our first date all over again.

"So what are you doing for Christmas?"

The question is so innocent, so innocuous, yet so significantly loaded. Does he want to know what I'm doing so he can make plans with me? Around me? If I tell him I've got nothing special planned except Christmas brunch with mine and SeeSee's families, will he feel obligated to invite me to whatever his plans are? I'm pretty sure I'm close to hyperventilating as the questions and scenarios play themselves out in my head.

"Bella?"


	74. Chapter 74

**74**

"Um, nothing, really." I decide to go with the truth. "I've got brunch with mine and Seesee's family on the twenty-fifth. Other than that…"

"That sounds cool. Tradition?"

"Yeah, we do it every year."

"I was wondering…" He sounds hesitant now. "Would you like to come spend Christmas Eve with me and my family?"


	75. Chapter 75

**75**

Thank God we're only on the phone because I'm about ready to black out.

"Y-y-yo-you're inviting me over for Christmas…?"

"Yeah. Yeah. If you'd like," he rambles. "I mean, you don't have to. I know it's probably a big step and all but I'd kind of like it if you were there, you know, it'd be nice and all…"

I let him babble as a realization washes through me – he's just as nervous as I am.

I don't know why it's just hitting home now, but I replay all our interactions in my head with that little piece of clarity and then another fact becomes clear:

Edward likes me. He genuinely likes me.

"Edward," I say, cutting off his ramblings. "I'd love to spend Christmas with you."


	76. Chapter 76

**76**

"I'm insane, I'm insane, I'm insane!" I chant as I fly around my room, tearing it to pieces as I search for… something. "I don't even know what I'm looking for!"

Tansie laughs from where she is lounging on my bed and I turn sharply to her, my finger extended accusingly.

"You! This is your fault!"

"My fault?" she laughs. "How is this my fault?"

"If you hadn't convinced me to go with you that night to the Coral Lounge, I wouldn't be in this mess!"


	77. Chapter 77

**77**

This is a bad idea. A bad, bad, bad idea.

What was I thinking, saying yes to joining him and his family for Christmas? I am the outsider, the interloper – everyone will stare and talk about me behind their hands.

"Stop, Lala," Tanya says forcefully, batting me on the nose with my hair brush.


	78. Chapter 78

**78**

"Calm down," Seesee tells me, pinning down the silk headband in my hair. We're facing the full length mirror attached to the back of my door and the doorbell has just rung, signalling Edward's arrival. "Tonight will go great. You will be your usual charming, neurotic self and Edward will be absolutely enamoured with you. His family will love you and you will not spill red wine on your sweater."

I can't help but turn and pull my best friend in for a hug. "Thank you, Seesee. I love you."

"I love you, too, Lala," she says, giving me a mighty squeeze. "Now go get your man."


	79. Chapter 79

**79**

"You didn't have to bring anything," Edward says again as we walk up the flagstone steps to his parent's house.

"I wanted to," I tell him honestly.

He beams at me before stopping and pulling me into his arms.

"Thank you for coming tonight," he whispers before placing a light kiss on the tip of my nose.

"Thank you for thinking of me."

"I wouldn't have wanted anybody else."


	80. Chapter 80

**80**

"Oh, Edward! She's so lovely!"

Edward's mother, Esme, has been hanging off my arm since Edward introduced us an hour ago. I've been regaling her with tales of my kindergarten students and life as a teacher while she giggles madly and shows me embarrassing pictures of Edward's adolescence.

It's nice to know that Edward wasn't always this gorgeous looking.


	81. Chapter 81

**81**

"Miss Bella, Miss Bella! Come look!"

Edward's niece and nephew come charging into the sitting room where Edward and I have been sharing the loveseat as all the adults in the Cullen clan mingle. Neve and Reese start tugging at my sleeves to get me to join them in the living room.

"You know, before you came along, I was their favorite," Edward whispers to me with an over-exaggerated pout.

I can't help but giggle and shamelessly (I blame the egg nog) kiss his distended bottom lip. "Sorry, sucker. I'm the shiny new toy around these parts."


	82. Chapter 82

**82**

"See those?"

Little Neve points to a haphazard pile of gifts sitting under the tree. The crowning glory of the pile is a large card consisting of, from what I can see, two whole pieces of construction paper stitched together with felt bindings.

I nod and crouch down and each twin takes that as an opportunity to scramble on each of my knees. "I see it. It's a pile of gifts. Are they for you?"

"No, silly!" Reese exclaims. He places a chubby palm on each of my cheeks and stares me squarely in the eye. I notice his eyes are the exact shade of green his uncle possesses. I can't help but melt a little bit more. "They're _yours_!"


	83. Chapter 83

**83**

"Mine?" I ask, not really feigning surprise. I'm floored; all I brought was a bottle of wine and the basket of muffins I had baked earlier in the day. And, of course, the small gift I had gotten for Edward.

"Uh-huh," they chorus, jumping off my legs and pulling me to the large and ornately decorated tree. "Look! This one is from Nana and Papa, this is from Mama and Daddy, and that one over there in the pink and blue paper is from Auntie Maggie!"

"And this," Neve picks up the gigantic card, "is from me and Reese! We mades it for you!"

The tears well up in my eyes and I gather the two children in a hug.

"And, if you look real close," a voice behind me says, "The one with the brown velvet ribbon is from Uncle Edward."


	84. Chapter 84

**84**

I get up and the twins scamper away so I'm left with Edward, alone in the living room.

He looks absolutely gorgeous, his hair in its usual disarray and his emerald green eyes shining with something I can't quite place. He's wearing the slacks from the night we met and his crisp white button-down lies sharp underneath a muted silver vest and a forest green zippered fleece.

"You didn't have to get me anything," I tell him, gesturing behind me. "Your family, too. It was totally unnecessary."

He just laughs and waves a hand around the room. "You see how nuts we go over Christmas in my family. My mom would've considered it a crime had we not gotten you anything."

"Edward…"

"Especially me," he says, pulling me close and waltzing slowly with me in front of the fireplace. "I would've kicked my own ass had I not gotten you anything."

I can't argue with him, especially with him twirling me around like we're in a Christmas snowglobe. So instead I say a simple thank you and let him kiss the words off my lips.


	85. Chapter 85

**85**

Edward's family is amazing. There's no strain or awkwardness like there is whenever my family gets together. It's just a houseful of the warmest, fuzziest love anyone could ever imagine.

"Are you sure you want to come to Mass with us, Bella?" Carlisle, Edward's father, asks me as we all shrug on our coats. "Midnight Mass isn't for everyone."

"Says the man who begs to stay home so he can drink beer and eat cookies while we're gone," Esme snickers. "She's coming. She and Edward can ride with Caroline and Grant and the kids."


	86. Chapter 86

**86**

Midnight Mass is amazing. I've never attended before; actually, I can count on one hand the number of times my family went to church services.

There is an air of excited solemnity, a current running through the air as every reveres the moment.

I clumsily shuffle into the pew beside Caroline, Edward's older sister, and Edward follows me, kneeling on the padded rest in front of us. I sit awkwardly, wondering whether I should kneel as well. I decide not to when Edward rises shortly after and takes my hand in his own.

The service starts soon after and I am floored by the amazing songs and the almost palpable joy filling the air. The pastor (or whatever you call him) is a sprightly old Irish gentleman, his sermon extolling the virtues of living in the faith without being bogged down by all the stereotypical Christian fire and brimstone.

At one point near the end, a woman gets up in front of the altar and begins to sing the most moving rendition of 'O Holy Night' that I've ever heard. Only when the song is winding down do I realize that it was Esme Cullen.


	87. Chapter 87

**87**

I'm carrying a sleeping Reese and Edward is carrying a lightly snoring Neve when we get back to the house. Caroline and Grant direct us to their bedroom and we place them there before heading back downstairs for a nightcap.

"Okay, gift exchange!" slightly deaf Aunt Maggie sings, sweeping us into the living room as we climb down the stairs.

"Oh, Edward…"

"It's okay, Bella," Esme says. "Just the couples exchange gifts right now. Then the real melee begins in the morning. Oh, by the way, you and Edward have his old room."


	88. Chapter 88

**88**

Say what?

"Oh, Mom, I'm bringing Bella home—"

"Nonsense! It's late, the weather is abysmal, and she has presents under the tree for tomorrow!"

"Esme, really, it's not a problem—"

"It's a problem for me," she says with a note of finality.

"Well, then, looks like you're staying," Edward says sheepishly.


	89. Chapter 89

**89**

"Happy Christmas, Bella," Edward whispers, holding a black velvet box in his hands. There is indeed a brown satin ribbon tied around it, the soft fabric looped into a lopsided bow around the top.

"Merry Christmas, Edward," I say as I hand him a small wrapped box of my own. Inside lays a Swarovski ornament, the Little Star I remembered him commenting on several times while we had admired the tree.

I watch him open his gift first and his eye light up as he see the little crystal star. He looks up at me, eyes full of mischief, and motions for me to open mine.


	90. Chapter 90

**90**

"Great minds," I hear him whisper to me as I pull the ribbon and rest it on my shoulder. The velvet of the box is soft and a little slippery, so I take extra care in prying open the lid.

Nestled inside the velvet lining lays a crystal swan strung on a white satin string. I recognize the swan's design because it mirrors the emblem screened into the inner silk lid of the box in my hands. It's the classic Swarovski swan.

"Oh, Edward!" I gush, lifting the little swan from it's home. Then I laugh, because Edward has lifted his ornament as well and the low light of the living room is reflecting off the facets of our crystals. "Great minds indeed."


	91. Chapter 91

**91**

"So… I can sleep on the floor, or even on the couch downstairs," Edward offers.

We hung our ornaments side by side on the tree then silently slipped out of the room. He led me to his old bedroom and gave me some old sweats to wear then let me change in his ensuite after giving me a new toothbrush.

"You don't have to," I insist shyly. "You can… It's okay with me if you…"

"Yeah?"

I nod. "Yeah."


	92. Chapter 92

**92**

I don't expect anything to happen tonight. I silently slip in to the right side of the bed and wait expectantly as Edward dims the lamps and joins me.

"Merry Christmas, Edward," I whisper, leaning over to kiss him.

"Happy Christmas, Bella," he returns, slightly breathless, when we break apart.

"Good night, Bella," he adds a few moments later, kissing me again.

"Good night, Edward." Another kiss then, "Thank you, Edward."

But this time, the kiss doesn't stop.


	93. Chapter 93

**93**

It isn't planned, hell, it wasn't even discussed. But holy hell, did it feel right.

Our kisses morphed from slow and languid into something else entirely until we were shedding our night clothes and the quilt to the floor. We'd shared a few heavy make out sessions on a few dates prior, but nothing, _nothing_ prepared me for just how perfect Edward looked or felt absolutely naked.

"Bella," Edward sighs as he moves over me.

I have no words to give back to him, so I wrap my legs tighter around his hips and twine our fingers as we give each other another, much more intimate gift.


	94. Chapter 94

**94**

I finally understand what real, true glory is.

Glory, by definition should be this: this bliss, this absolute and amazing feeling of awe inspiring pleasure at the hands – and other parts – of Edward Cullen.

My heart beats in an insane rhythm, like I've just run a marathon. Each beat says all the things my brain won't let my mouth say, the things I'm feeling that I can't even begin to articulate.


	95. Chapter 95

**95**

"I think…"

I roll over to face him. His features are in sharp relief due to the Christmas lights strung outside his window and it makes him look even more ethereal then the first time I ever saw him.

"You think…?"

"I think… I think I could fall in love with you."

Silence. Then,

"I think I already have."


	96. Chapter 96

**96 – One Year Later**

"One peppermint white hot chocolate."

A steaming cup with the familiar green logo is held under my nose and I breathe in the Christmassy scent. It's never Christmas until the first peppermint white hot chocolate and the Cavalcade of Lights.

"Anything interesting happen yet?"

I take my cup in my mittened hands and turn so I'm facing emerald green eyes and messy copper-bronze hair. Edward leans down to kiss me and I can't help the smile that grows against his lips

"Nope, nothing yet. But I think they're about to start. I just saw Richard Tryor getting fitted for a mic."


	97. Chapter 97

**97**

The lighting of the tree is still as magnificent as it was last year. The colors have changed – this year it's purple and gold – but the air of absolute Christmas is still the same.

Edward and I share a kiss just as the last of the first fireworks end with a resounding boom.


	98. Chapter 98

**98**

I'm sneakily watching Edward out of the corner of my eye as he mulls over the new set of ornaments this year.

"Will there be anything else, miss?" the store clerk asks me, handing me the small bag emblazoned with SWAROVSKI on the side.

I shake my head and quickly stuff the bag into my oversized purse.

"Edward, c'mon," I call, feigning a whine. "Let's go take our picture with the tree!"


	99. Chapter 99

**99**

"Merry Christmas, darling," he whispers in my ear from behind, one of his hands sneaking to rest on my hip. The other presents a little Swarovski bag to me, dangling off a long finger. I can't help the giggle that escapes me, but the sound is lost in the sea of chatter in his parent's living room.

"And happy new year, too," I sing back quietly and I dangle an identical bag over my shoulder.


	100. Chapter 100

**100 – Three Years Later**

"_God rest ye merry Gentlemen, let nothing you dismay_."

I unpack the six bubble wrapped ornaments and place them almost reverently on the extra squishy couch cushion so that way they don't tumble to the floor

"_Remember Christ our Saviour was born on Christmas day_." Edward's smooth tenor joins my dainty soprano as I listen to him stomp the snow off his boots.

"_To save us all from Satan's power when we have gone astray_," we sing together as he walks into our box-filled living room in our newly acquired cold, drafty apartment. He picks me up from my knees and cradles my body against his.

"_Oh, tiding of comfort and joy_," he sings.

"_Comfort and joy_," I reply.

But before either of us can sing the next line, he swoops down and presses his lips firmly against mine.

"_Oh, tidings of comfort and joy_," he mumbles against my lips. "Indeed."


	101. Chapter 101

**101 – Five Years Later**

"Your tree is so beautiful!" Tanya gushes. One hand holds her burgeoning stomach as her other traces the different crystal ornaments decorating our tree. "But why don't you have more things on your tree?"

Edward laughs. "Christmas tradition. Bella and I give each other Swarovski ornaments every year."

"Really?" Emmett calls as he walks out of our kitchen, sandwich in hand. "Nothing else?"

"Nothing else," I confirm. I walk over to Edward and he dips me into a kiss.

"Well, maybe not this year."


	102. Chapter 102

**102**

Emmett and Seesee and a bunch of our other friends have decided to join us at the Cavalcade of Lights, so we're all trying to keep warm as the snow drifts down on us in fat, fluffy flakes.

"Ooh, look, the tree!" Samantha exclaims, pointing forward and bouncing with her girlfriend Charlotte's hand in her own.

This year's tree is blue and silver and when the familiar explosions from above sound, I lean towards Edward for our first kiss of the Christmas season.

But, when I pull away this year, I come away with more than just the joy of being here with the one I love: on my finger is a beautiful diamond solitaire.


	103. Chapter 103

**103 – Seven Years Later**

Edward looks excited as I hand him familiar black Swarovski box. After being together for seven years and married for two, our tree now boasts an impressive collection of brilliant crystal strung on soft white satin.

"I wonder," he muses as he hands me mine. He motions for me to go first – year after year I always do – but I shake my head.

"Is there something wrong, babe?"

"No, nothing, it's just…" I don't know why I am so nervous, but I'm tugging at a loose thread on my sweater all the same. "Just… Open yours first, you'll understand. I hope."

With intrigue crossing his features, he opens up the box.


	104. Chapter 104

**104**

"Bella?"

Off his finger dangles a large snowflake, the centre a flat expanse of crystal. Etched on it's surface is 'Baby Cullen's First Christmas' followed by next year's date of Christmas.

Edward's face is a mix of awe as he stares between me and the ornament, his eyes hopeful as they ask the question he cannot put into words.

"Yes," I say softly, nodding with tears brimming in my eyes.

Immediately I am bundled up into his arms and his lips are saying thank you with kisses all over my face.


	105. Chapter 105

**Merry Christmas, from my family to yours. :)**

* * *

><p><strong>105 – Eight Years Later<strong>

"And this one," Edward says as he carries Avery in one arm and fingers an ornament in the other, "is from Mommy and mine's third Christmas together. See? It's an angel. I gave this one to her to tell her that she is and always will be my angel."

I hear my daughter coo in her father's arms and I can't help but sigh happily. I look down and find sleepy emerald green eyes staring up at me from my own arms. Aubrey, though he looks like his father, is quiet like me, never a crier unless he can help it.

I think of the three little Swarovski boxes stowed away for Christmas day and smile down on my son, kissing his forehead and walking over to our Christmas tree where I stand, complete and content, with my family at my side.

**fin**


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